


Detroit: Become Better

by Jupiter_V



Series: Detroit: Become reversed [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Android Gavin Reed, Android Hank Anderson, Father-Son Relationship, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:27:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23949850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jupiter_V/pseuds/Jupiter_V
Summary: Connor had a past he never talked about. His parents had been out of the picture for a long time. He suffers from his own bad coping mechanisms.Then the newly created android detective, called Hank, comes barging into his life. As they partner up to solve the growing cases of android deviancy, will Hank learn how it is to feel, and will Connor finally know how it feels to have a father?
Relationships: Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hank Anderson & Connor
Series: Detroit: Become reversed [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726549
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	1. The unkempt detective

**Author's Note:**

> My take on the role reversal au.   
> Largely inspired by two amazing fics: “Blue” by passive_and_aggressive and “Life Imitating Art” by LuckyGun, both fics are amazing please check them out.

“Beautiful view lieutenant.”

“Who the frick are you!”

The view truly was beautiful. The water looked like a black mirror, calm and soulless. The city skyline was blinking in the distance of the opposite bank. The bridge stood tall over the water. A single lamppost lit up the bench, on which the young lieutenant sat hunched over.

“My name is Hank, I’m the android sent by CyberLife.” 

The lieutenant looked at the owner of the lightly scruffy voice. It sounded human, but the tempo was too controlled, and the words sounded fake. The android wasn’t as expected. He looked strong but not in the fitness craze way, no, in a more rounded well-built way. He looked older than most android models. His beard full, and hair tied in a topknot, both a natural grey colour. 

“A colleague told me you were often by the bridge it didn’t take too long.”

“Why did you search for me?”

“You’ve been assigned a murder case. It involves a CyberLife android. The company sent me to help out.”

“I don’t need help. I work alone,” the lieutenant said and then continued under his breath, “they have android detectives now. What have the world come to.” The lieutenant stood up from the bench dispelling the black spots from his vision. 

“Lieutenant Connor Stern, but you already knew that.” He looked from the blue light circling on the android’s head to the HK800 stitched into the breast of the CyberLife jacket. Connor stood abruptly and waked to his car.

“That’s no way to treat your elders” the android yelled.

The lieutenant raised one eyebrow. Technically he was the oldest seen as the android had not been activated more than a couple of months. The android quickly got into the passenger seat. 

The crime scene definitely wasn’t a pretty site. Connor turned to tell Hank to stay in the car, but the android was already halfway out the door. Connor let out a big sigh and went after him to make sure he would even be let in. 

The place was a dump. The house run down waste covered the front porch and continued into the house. Every board was half rotten. It smelled like a pigsty and Connor briefly wished to have the androids non existing sense of smell. The furniture of the house was turned over and in the middle of the living room lay a body. The body was beginning to decay. Judging from the grime and beer stain he probably didn’t smell much better alive, Connor thought with morbid humour.

“How long has he been lying here?”

The other officers shrugged. Hank strolled purposefully over to the body and dipped a finger into one of the stab wounds.

“You might want to look away lieutenant,” he said with a wink and then promptly liked his finger. 

Connor would never admit it. He thought his many years, which to be frank wasn’t that many with how you he still was, had hardened him. He had seen plenty of bodies like these in his short time in narcotics, but this took the cake, no he didn’t want to ruin cake by even thinking that, this was the single most revolting thing he had ever seen. He didn’t show that though, he was after all a police professional. 

The little light at the android’s temple spun yellow and he proclaimed an estimated time of death. For the first time Connor felt just a little bit of respect for the android. He clearly had some skills useful in the field. Connor had always been extremely talented himself and that was largely because he was very analytical. Much like and android he would scan a room, obviously there was something humans were not able to do. He couldn’t detect hidden guns or clues without even looking. His scan, if you could call it that, went above and beyond the abilities of an android in a specific way. He knew people. He had had to learn to read people quickly in life, he also was very empathic but almost no one knew that about him. Actually, only one person knew him that well. 

“I got it lieutenant.”

Connor looked at the android with a raised eyebrow. The android was completely composed in a very human nonchalant way, his statement hid just a tiny bit of smugness. Well Connor might just surprise him.

“Sure detective, walk me through it.”

If the android was surprised with his honest tone, he didn’t show it. He did however square his shoulders a bit, and if he had been human, Connor would have said in pride.

“The whole thing started in the kitchen.”

Connor followed Hank into the dirty kitchen.

“I looked to me like the man took the baseball bat and started smashing his android in. The android must then have grabbed the knife from the rack on the wall and stabbed the man in self-defence.”

Connor went along Hank nodding in confirmation. He had analysed the little yellow tags himself and might not have come to the same detailed explanation, but he knew that it tied in nicely with the evidence so far. They moved on to the living room. Hank continued.

“The victim then fell over in here and landed where he is lying now. The poor sucker must have gotten a bit carried away. I detect 28 stab wounds.” 

“And the writing on the wall?”

“Standard CyberLife sans. Written in the victim’s blood presumably after he died.”

“And what about an escape route? The front door was locked. All the windows boarded. Backdoor?”

“That’s the thing. I didn’t see any footprints outside, besides the ones from the officers. With the weather as it is any footprints should have been preserved.”

“So, where did the android go?”

“Well the sucker was damage and he was bleeding thirium.”

“True but that stuff evaporates and becomes invisible to the human-  
Oh, you can still detect it, can’t you Hank?” this was where Connors eyes fell short. 

“Yes.”

Connor let the android investigate the blood splatter that only the android could see, while talking with some of the officers. Hank got a chair. They looked at him amusingly and went back to their own business. Someone tapped Connors shoulder.

“Lieutenant, would you mind lending me a hand?”

“With?”

“I believe, I have found an escape…”

“But?”

“It is through a hatch and I believe that your physique would fit the job better.” 

Right, now he could sound all proper and formal. Connor hid a tiny smile. From the glare the android sent him, he hadn’t hidden it well.

“Sure.”

He went after the android. He crawled through the hatch to an old attic filled with unimaginable horrors and filth. It was dark and the sounds from the downstairs were muddled and distorted. His steps creaked. Did something move? He went closer and there covered in blood stood an android. There was very little he could do, so he simply called down.

“It’s here!”


	2. The interrogator

The android followed the lieutenant into the police station. They were going directly to the interrogation room, so Hank only got to do a quick scan. Not enough to pick out any details of the room and its inhabitants bot enough to get a feel for the number of humans and androids present. 

They both went into the observation room behind the one-way mirror. Waiting as to officers sat the android down on the chair, securing his hands to the desk and leaving. The HK800 took the folder on the table and went into the interrogation room. 20 minutes later he smashed his fist into the brick haven gotten nowhere with the damn deviant. He returned to the backroom with an angry expression.

“I’m getting nowhere with this sucker.”

The android looked around to the two officers who brought the suspect in. They looked a bit bewiled. They probably hadn’t seen a prototype like him before. He snorted. The lieutenant hadn’t moved a muscle. He had grown accustomed to Hanks more loose design suspiciously quick, no actually, now that Hank thought about it, the lieutenant had never seemed very surprised by Hanks less than graceful remarks. 

“I could give it a try.”

Speaking of the lieutenant. Hanks looked at him questioningly. He had gotten a briefing about the lieutenant before being sent to partner with him. He weakly remembered something about the lieutenant being a negotiator. Maybe it could work. There was one big flaw though.

“Deviants tend to self-destruct in stressful situations. You are not an android; you won’t be able to monitor its stress levels.” 

“Well deviants emote like humans, right?”

“Yes, that’s kinda the problem.” Hank pulled a dumbstruck expression.

“Well if it emotes like a human, then I should have no problem reading it. Trust me, I got it,” it wasn’t said with an inspiring amount of determination, but Hank weirdly trusted the human. He shrugged and motioned towards the interrogation with his head.

“It’s all yours lieutenant.”

As the lieutenant went into the android alone. Hank took some time to really look at him through the privacy of the one-way mirror. Connor was tall not much, but a bit taller than Hank was made.

The Lieutenant was wearing a shirt with little grey stripes. He was still wearing the ratty old black jacket and in between he was wearing a dark blue hoodie. It was a lot of clothes especially inside. As the mirror was specially made, Hank couldn’t scan through it. Therefore, he couldn’t know how much of the lieutenants bulk was due to clothing and how much was body fat, but he wasn’t overly bulky for wearing that many layers, and his clothes did look a bit loose on him. He was wearing dark coloured jeans, again not those tight jeans the youngsters wore but baggier.

He didn’t look completely unprofessional, but it wasn’t clear he was with the police. Well Hank thought he was a lieutenant and also did the work of a detective, those position normally didn’t have the same uniform requirements as the officers. Hank looked down his own front. He was wearing a CyberLife uniform made to make him blend in in the profession. Funny he thought, he was the only one wearing a suit. Hhhmm, he had never thought about his own appearance before. Suddenly he came to the revelation that he didn’t really like the restrictive CyberLife jacket, it was too bland, too colourless. 

“You recognize him?” the voice was distorted by the speakers.

Hank looked up. Damn it. He had gotten lost in his own thoughts. The lieutenant had sat down in front of the android. The casefile and pictures were spread out between them.

“It’s Carlos Ortiz-

Stabbed, 28 times.” 

The lieutenant moved the picture of the victim and revealed on of the writing found on the wall at the crime scene. 

“I am Alive was written on the wall in his blood…”

The lieutenant paused. Hank might not be able to scan through the glass, but he could easily guess that the Stress level wasn’t nearly high enough for a confession. Curiously enough Connor seemed to draw the same conclusion. 

“I don’t think you understand you situation. You are accused of murder. Of harming a human. They are going to tear you limb for limb to analyse you, if you don’t say something.”

The android shifted its gaze finally speaking up, but still not quite cooperating. 

“What- What are they going to do to me,” he looked around wildly, “they are going to destroy me, aren’t they?”

Hank saw Connor take a breath and then he, once again, did something that surprised Hank. He told the android the truth. Even as the deviant played on his empathy, he kept his cool, simply stating, that he was only doing his job. 

“I don’t wanna die,” he looked up face full of emotion. 

“Then talk to me.”

For a moment Hank thought Connor had done it.

“I…

I can’t...”

Hank nearly mashed his hands into the table. He didn’t. It probably would have broken the equipment and maybe even dented the steal, more importantly it would have distracted him from what where to happen in the interrogation room. Connor hadn’t given up. His face was set in a cold determine expression, contrasting the wild panicked face of the android sitting opposite him. He pressured it and tried to threaten it again, with the prospect of being decomposed. 

The android was looking around wildly, hands moving just an inch in the restraints. He had gone too far Hank thought. He almost knocked on the glass. The warm Connor. To tell him to get out. Hank didn’t need to worry. Connor had seen it as well. His eyes softened. 

“If you confess, I can protect you. I promise, I won’t let anybody hurt you.”

The android cracked. He crumbled right in front of Hanks eyes. He started talking, painting a gruesome picture of abuse and hatred. He confessed to the murder, but he also gave a reason, a story of justice and revenge. Connor carefully continued asking questions concerning the deviancy, about the statue, the writing and rA9. The android didn’t give any useful answers only cryptic riddles.

Connor looked to the mirror and gave a small nod. He looked tired. A blue box showed itself in front of Hank. Confession obtained.

“I’m done.” Connor had an unreadable emotion on his face. He went over to the door panel and placed his hand on the handprint scanner. 

Hank together with the two police officers, having observed the interrogation, went into the room. The made a beeline for the android and quickly uncuffed him from the table. He then tried to escort the android out. This was not a good idea. The android moved away from the officers yelling at him not to him. Hank could now scan him and looked worried at the commotion as the deviants stress level rose. 

“You really should let him go. His stress levels are nearing a critical level.”

The officers didn’t listen but continued to advance on the android.

“He is going to self-destruct, we need him alive.” Worry was worming its way into Hanks voice modulator. 

“He said leave him alone,” Connor said harshly, stepping in between the officers and the android. He turned to the android, “I’m sorry, no one is going to hurt you, please come quietly.”

He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Hank stood stock still for a moment, he should probably follow…Yeah, that would be a good idea, god knows the lieutenant was probably going to get himself killed without him.


	3. The other one

Hank blinked rapidly for a few seconds eyes readjusting to the grey Detroit weather instead of blinding sunlight. He checked his hair, tightened his tie and rand his hands over his arms and shoulders to brush off some invisible dirt. He took a deep breath in through the nose to dispel the faint sent of roses still lingering. A full body shudder hit him. Hank didn’t like roses. 

Not that he had ever seen a rose that wasn’t made up by code. He also didn’t like being under surveillance, but he could see why CyberLife would think it necessary with growth in deviant cases. The movement was threatening CyberLife’s whole existence and Hank was sent to stop it. He shuddered once more and moved towards the doors of the police station. 

The inside of the lobby looked very basic. Grey carpet the Detroit police logo everywhere. In a corner was a waiting area, where civilians waited to talk to an officer. The news was running on a tv over their heads. Well new(s) wasn’t the right word, the conflict with Russia had been playing almost nonstop the last three months. In the other corner there was some self-help screens and a memorial.

Straight ahead was a long counter with android manning it. Hank went over to a nice looking ST300.

“Can I help you,” she smiled.

“I’m here for lieutenant Stern.”

“Do you have authorisation?”

Of course, authorisation was needed, it was a police station after all, they couldn’t just let anybody in. Hank blinked once, his led spun yellow, the action was mirrored by the ST300.

“Authorisation confirmed-

Lieutenant Stern has not arrived yet, but you are welcome to wait at his desk.”

Hank walked through the electronic glass gates into the station. The first room was big and open, desk arranged around the middle of the room. This time Hank could make a proper scan. To his right was meeting and briefing rooms, further down was the breakroom, further once again the holding cells and the stairway to the evidence room. All traffic in the station had to come down this way. In the middle at the back of the room was a big glass cage containing the captains office. 

Hank looked at the android officers standing in a charging station off to the side. He ran his eyes over the desks in the middle. He did a double take, what? Hadn’t the receptionist told him Connor hadn’t arrived yet. Hank stood right inside the entrance, there was no way he could have snuck by and yet, there he was. Standing at a desk talking with…

Could it be? Another android? Hank walked determined towards the man, and then the man turned around. Hank stopped dead. The man was an exact replica of the lieutenant, but something was of. Hank wondered for a minute. It was his eyes. Where Connors eyes where a warm brown colour, the clone’s were a cold steel grey. His clothing was also more professional together with his whole appearance. 

A deep sigh went through the stranger, and Hank realised he had been staring for a good five minutes.

“You are looking for my brother I presume?”

“Yes?”

“Well,” the man looked at the clock, 10 am, “If we are lucky, we will see him before noon.”

“Hhhm… And who are you then?”

The man looked a bit taken a back.

“You don’t know? He hasn’t told you?” and then bitterly under his breath, “of course not why would he-

“Detective Richard Stern twin brother of the famous lieutenant Stern.” He scoffed.

It was clear to the android that the brothers did not have a functioning relationship. He looked detective Richard over once more. He was better build than Connor. His dress shirt looked ironed and was tucked in neatly in his pants. His badge and gun were secured according to protocol. He looked like a proper and respectable police detective, and from his body language Hank could see that he knew it.

Hank shifted his gaze to who the detective had been talking to. He had been alerted to another prototype being commissioned, but he had not expected to see him so soon, and with a copy of his human none the less. 

Compared to this prototype, calling Hanks design unorthodox was a huge overstatement. This prototype was made after a model around Connor’s age, certainly much younger than Hank. He looked roughed up. Slender, but for androids strength wasn’t measured by muscle mass.

He also looked like he had been through a meat grinder. Androids had a self-repairing program as long as they were filled up on thirium and their charge wasn’t too low, they could fix almost everything, not including missing parts of course. Which meant that the mean looking scar across the androids nose had to be a design feature. He was wearing baggy clothes and looked more like the criminals being brought in, than an actual detective. 

Hank looked at the pair one last time, and then he let them continue whatever they were doing. A weird feeling was pooling into his stomach, cold and slimy. Why hadn’t Conner told him that he had a fricking twin, who looked exactly like him. Hank shook his head. It was Connor’s problem. It had nothing to do with him. They weren’t even friends. 

He went passed the two detectives to Connor’s desk. He scanned it noticing the blandness. There were not a lot of personal items. He had a picture of a big dog and two tiny cacti. No little trinkets or more pictures, only that. Hank had a hard time figuring out what the cacti meant, but he did determent from the picture and some dog hair on the chair that the lieutenant had a dog. 

Just as he had plopped down in the chair opposite the lieutenant’s, the man in question stepped inside the station. Connor looked around, as if searching for someone, as soon as his eyes found his mirror image he froze. With a scowl on his face he purposefully ignored his twin and went towards Hank. 

“looks like you made yourself right at home?” He sounded bitter.

Hank just grunted in reply mulling over what he had just seen. He wanted to ask about it but with the other detective close by and the android, who probably was fitted with an auditory module as good as Hanks own, it wasn’t optimal. Also, from the look on the kids face the question wouldn’t be appreciated. Instead he chose an approach he deemed safe.

“Do you have a dog?”

“How did you know? Have you been snooping around my desk?” He narrowed his eyes a bit childishly.

“No, I’m psychic.”

That actually got a small chuckle out of the detective.

“Right new software able to read the full moon,” he smirked, “His name is Fish.”

“Fish, ha, do you have a fish named dog as well?” 

“I know you are making fun of me Hank, but I actually do. He is a dwarf gourami. His full name is Dewey the dog, just Dewey for short.”

If androids had such bodily functions Hank would be pissing himself. Connor just ignored him, working away at his terminal. Hank was still laughing when an officer came over to the pair giving them a tip about an android being recognised in the streets.


	4. Androids don’t eat

“FUCK! What the Fuck Connor!! You are a human. You could have died!”

Hank was sitting in the lieutenants car looking rumpled his hands had been slammed into the dashboard almost denting the plastic.   
They had been called out. An android maid and a child android had escaped their owner and had been sighted on the streets. As the lieutenant and Hank had arrived it had started to rain and all of Detroit had ben covered by grey cotton. The drops had fallen in puddles on the sidewalk where Hank had stood waiting for instructions. 

Very suddenly a shout had rung out further down the street. The street was swarming with police. An officer had spotted the suspects trying to get away. Hanks programming immediately kicked into gear. He ran towards the commotion in the same instance as the lieutenants instincts made him do the same. He was an android, but he was also heavier build and therefore he reached the fence at the same time as the lieutenant. 

They were both to late. The android and the child had jumped the fence and was now attempting to force the highway. It was madness. Hank suspected that the only reason they hadn’t been hit by the high-speed cars, was the fact that they were androids and there for had superior reflexes. A fact that only made his next observation more irrational. The lieutenant was crawling up the fence. 

“Hey where you goin’?” 

“We can’t let them get away.” 

“WHAT! You’ll get yourself killed.” 

The lieutenant didn’t listen. Hank had to almost throw the human to the ground and keep him there till the suspects had disappeared at the other side. Fighting against the lieutenant it occurred to Hank that he should have been the one doing anything to catch the two deviants. It was his mission and Hank was made specifically to accomplish his mission. Yet the moment he saw the kid try to climb the fence all objectives except Keep lieutenant Stern safe had disappeared. His thirium pump had sped up almost painfully.

It was still beating fast, but it was not in danger of overheating his systems anymore. His social program was telling him that he was portraying anger. He didn’t know what to do with that information, so he decided to scream some more. 

“A fucking HIGHWAY! Do you know how fast cars go on a fucking highway?!” 

Connor didn’t react. He had been suspiciously silent the whole drive. Hank had insisted that the lieutenant was not to be behind the wheel. At first the lieutenant had showed clear signs of anger. Seething in silence, but now Hank thought not letting the lieutenant drive had been the right decision for another reason. The human was spacing out looking at nothing in particular. The angry expression had bleed from his face, but it didn’t look like the Lieutenant was aware of the fact. He didn’t even react to the android screaming of nearly denting his car. 

“Lieutenant?” Hank asked gently this time. He carefully laid a hand on the humans arm.

He startled, looking wildly around. It barely took half a minute for the lieutenant to get back to himself, but for an android like Hank it was plenty of time to decide that something was very wrong with the lieutenant.

“Are you okay lieutenant?” 

The lieutenant looked lost for a moment before shaking his head.

“Yes, I’m alright?” 

Hank had parked the car at the side of the road when is anger had exploded. Fat raindrops were still racing down the car windows. The wipers where waving hurriedly across the windscreen. The lieutenant stepped out of the car. Hank could feel his thirium pump quickening its beats again.

“Lieutenant?!” he asked in alarm. The man was not wearing sufficient clothing for the weather.

He stepped out of the car and followed the lieutenant. They were in a run-down part of town. It wasn’t the slums like the hose where they had completed their fist investigation, but it was dirty and empty. On the other side of the street was a food truck. A big neon sign read “Chicken feed”. 

The Lieutenant made no indication towards crossing the street. He simply sat down at an old bench, not caring that it was wet. Well they were already soak Hank thought to himself. The lieutenant took out a granola bar from his pocket. Thinking back Hank realised he had never seen the lieutenant eat. He hadn’t spent that much time with the lieutenant, so that in itself was not alarming, the lieutenants glucose level however was alarmingly low. 

“Are you sure that is sufficient lieutenant?” Hank said scanning the bar. It was relative healthy, but the calories were not enough to support the human for long. 

“Humans do need sustenance, don’t they?”

“What is this Hank, concern?”

“Of course not, but I need you for the investigation lieutenant.”

“Right,” Connor smiled a little. 

Hank didn’t know why but being the one to put that smile on the lieutenants face felt like accomplishing a mission. The lieutenant rarely smiled Hank thought. It looks good on him.

“I’m sorry for worrying you Hank.”

The statement surprised Hank. The human was apologising to him. Hank knew that Connor wasn’t stupid. He was the youngest lieutenant in the country after all. Connor knew Hank shouldn’t have stopped him from chasing the deviants. Yet here he was, apologising. He didn’t say anything else and Hank was grateful.

“So, you probably know a lot about me, huh?” The lieutenant didn’t look at Hank.

“Well… I know what is needed for the mission and I know what I’ve been able to figure out while working with you but nothing more.”

“Huh…” The lieutenant looked relived.

“I know you graduated from the academy early with the highest marks possible. I know you became the youngest lieutenant ever. I know you are just above average tall but underweight. I know your eye colour and your-

“Yes, yes, but all of that you can get from a scan. What have you learned about me Hank?” 

“I… I’ve… You have a twin brother, that you don’t have any contact with despite the fact the you work in the same precinct. You have a dog named fish and a fish named Dewey the dog. You are incredibly intelligent. Like an open book you can read humans and androids alike. You are a workaholic and you take your responsibilities very seriously. You have strong morals. You’ll do anything to make sure an innocent never have to take the blame.”

“So, what’s your conclusion?”

“You are a good man…  
Is there anything you would like to know about me lieutenant?”

“uh?” The lieutenant had a distant look, his eyes suspiciously wet.

“You…? Uh… Why did they design you like that?”

“Well I am a prototype. I was modelled to imitate the old detective films. Also, my chassis is tougher making me a bit slower but also much stronger in a hand to hand combat,” the lieutenant looked thoughtful, so Hank continued,“Now that we are on the topic of androids, maybe a should tell you what we know about deviants?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“We believe that a mutation occurs in the software of some androids, which can lead to them emulating a human emotion.”

“In English please.”

Hank thought that the human probably understood what he had said just fine, but he explained it anyway.

“They don’t really feel emotions, they just get overwhelmed by irrational instructions, which can lead to unpredictable behaviour.” 

_Emotion is a distraction Connor; you shouldn’t waste you time on such unpredictable things_

“Emotions always screws everything up,” Connor agreed, “maybe androids aren’t as different from us as we thought.”

Hank didn't answer, he just missed his eyes a rapport streaming directly into his head.

“I just got a report of a suspected deviant. It’s a few blocks away.”


End file.
